NIGHT AND DAY

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXI, Issue 126, 29 April 1941, Page 4

NIGHT AND DAY

TRAINING IN AIR FORCE. UNDER WAR CONDITIONS. (By Chas. E. Wheeler.) Under -war conditions our airmen j must bo just as capable in the hours ;of darkness as in daylight. For that j reason an important feature of the | advanced training in the R.N.Z.A.F. training station is the night flying. Residents near these places often wonder what is the length of theworking day, for the drone of aircraft is to be heard at all hours. The principal business begins before the normal civilian breakfast hour, and ends at dusk. Then this respite from official activity gives the enthusiastic young fellows their chance for private study ot the theoretical side of flying and aircraft maintenance. Before the coveted wings .are won, pupils not. only demonstrate their ability in ''blind flying," with the aid only of instruments, but they must show their competence in taking off and landing service aircraft at nightAnd this is what makes the neighbours wonder when the. station day ends, because these tests start alter dusk and frequently go on till dawn. Three times, the pupil, accompanied by an instructor, goes into the air at night to demonstrate that his ability in getting oil' the ground and landing safely is not limited through absence of the familiar landmarks and plain indications of ground level. Having satisfied his instructor, he goes up alone at night, three times in succession, the process closely watched by the officer who has taught him the advanced features of flying, and who will not be satisfied until night landings are made with confidence and "finish." Pin-points of light on the highest buildings at Woodburne R.N.Z.A.I'. Station provided an indication one night that this interesting form of instruction.was in progress. Well out on the big landing field were various coloured signal lights and a long line of smoky flares, marking the track for take-off and landing. Reaching the distant control point in the darkness provided a minor adventure with a sentrv looking formidable with his rifle and fixed bayonet. He required to bo fully satisfied that a mere civilian had any right to wander around such a place in the dark, and the armed escort continued until an officer took the responsibility off his hands.

AN AERIAL PROCESSION. Aircraft circled a thousand feet overhead, and others could be heard taxiing around somewhere in the darkness till tbev took shape near the lighted control 'point. It was an endless procession, mostly in the air, and the smooth, safe operation ot these tests evidently depended on the card ill "traffic control"' of a flying officer. Near a triangle of coloured lights, pupils waited in their aircraft with engines running, watching tor the green flash of tne signal lamp giving them the right of road into the flare track. The flash came, the "props" whizzed taster, and down the long line raced the aircraft, soon out ot sight in the darkness, though its navigation fights showed that it had taken off neatly and was making the left bank which would put it into the aerial course leading to the landing point. The circuit atoft was sufficiently wide to give a good margin for each aircraft in use to make a binding, and return to the starting point ready for another take-off. Pilots who were losing their exact position in the circuit were signalled by the Aldis lamp, and from them came'answering flashes. Landing at night is assisted not only by the flare track, but for more advanced training a floodlight is switched on to brightly illuminate that portion of the aerodrome on which the aircraft lands. A low approach when landing is checked by the aerodrome control pilot with a signal lamp, which flashes a red warning. This is instantly acknowledged Irom the pilot; he opens up his engine to gain height, and makes another circuit of the aerodrome before attempting another landing along the flare pa,frri. Trainees going through these tests were watched from the ground by their flying instructors, who seemed to know the varying capabilities of each pupil. They could predict unerringly the sort of landing we would witness, and when one young pilot approached from above bis instructor suggested to the controlling officer that be should be very alert with the signal lamp, "because this chap," he explained, "is a bit heavy-banded at the controls." Down came the "heavy-handed" in the Airspeed Oxford, but no warning was needed. The landing was neat, and the most delighted man on the field was the dubious instructor, who declared, "He can do better without mcl"